Top Beauty Products Recommended at My Birthday Party

Everyone brought their favorite beauty product ($5 value) to my birthday party for a gift exchange.

We set all of the gits out on a bench and everyone picked one to take home.  When you unwrapped your gift the person who brought it explained why they love it.

Here's a list of everyone's favorites:

Jeni: Lush Beauty products,especially the Herbalism facial cleanser (Lush store inside Mandalay Bay mall area)

Kelly: Nail TekII Intensive Therapy (Nail Salon)

Debra: Orly Nail Polish (Sally Beauty Supply)

Kerri: Panaca Springs Sweet Defeat Foot Cream (Salon near Lowe's off Horizon and Boullder Highway if you are a Henderson gal).

Bonnie:  Mary Kay Buffing Cream and Mary Kay Emollient Cream

Julie: Clinique Rinse-Off Eye Make-up Solvent

Susanna: Arbonne Liquid Make-up

Kim: Dr. Scholl's For Her Pumice Foot Scrub

Cydnee: Oil of Olay Daily Facial Cleansing Wipes (Costco)


Holly: Oil of Olay Ribbons Body Wash with Almond Oil

Brittany: Bath and Body Works Lemon and Pomagrante Lip Cream

Rachelle: Coconut Lime Verbena Triple Moisturizing Body Cream

Lesley: Bath and Body Works Foaming Hand Soap

Leesha brought a sleep mask.  My favorite is the SleepMask by Tempur-Pedic which they usually carry at Brookstone stores.

Carrie brought a fun cosmetics bag and a few of us laughed because our make-up is currently in Ziploc bag or a GladWare container.

Thanks for the tips ladies!  Thanks to Jeni, I have now become a Lush addict.  The photos above are of my favorite bath bar and bath bomb.  They make your whole bathroom smell great for days after your soak in the tub.

Homemade Peppermint Foot Soak Salts

Directions for Homemade Peppermint Bath Salts:

Ingredients:
Peppermint Essential Oil
Epsom Salt
Sea Salt
Powdered milk
Food Coloring (optional)






Directions:
Mix together in a gallon size Ziploc bag
1 cup Sea Salt
2 cups Epsom Salt 
1/3 cup powdered milk

Add the essential oil one drop at a time and mix well to achieve desired fragrance.  Tint the mixture in the same way with the food coloring.  (I used red and it didn't dissolve well.  But it turned out cute because it almost looked like chunks of candy cane.  When you add the hot water it turns light pink)


Supply purchase tips:
The best deal I found on essential peppermint oil was the Now Foods brand for for $6.99 for 1 oz at Whole Foods.

I bought the sea salt at Whole Foods in the bulk foods section for 49 cents per lb. It is fine, not chunky like you usually see in soaking salts but the size of the salt doesn't really matter.

Sam's Club has a 10 lb tub of Epsom Salts for $5.00.

Happy Birthday to Me! (1 month ago)

This year I threw myself a birthday party and had a GREAT time.

Twenty of my friends came over for a night out.  We had a pedicure party, some great food and good conversation.

I made peppermint bath salts (recipe here) for everyone to soak our feet in and it was much easier and inexpensive than I thought.

I also got everyone one my all time FAVORITE foot scrubber, Mr. Pumice Pumi Bar.  They are $1.60 at Sally Beauty Supply.  I also like their Callus Terminator.


I asked everyone to wrap up one of their favorite beauty products ($5 value) and we had a gift exchange.  Everyone picked a present and then we we opened the gift we received the giver explained why they love the product they bought.  Lots of great ideas and fun products (list here).

It was so much fun that I am tempted to have an pedicure night at my house every month or so.

Thanks to everyone who came!  Here's the details from the invitation if you want to have a party of your own:

Activity: We will be doing a foot spa / pedicure.  I'll provide the soaking salts, foot file, foot scrub, foot mask and lotion.  We'll soak our toes and scrub our heels and get our feet ready for sandal season!

What to wear: Lounge wear / PJ's. You might get some "product" on your pants, and you need to be able to roll them up to your knee. So wear something comfy and come relax. Wear flip flops if you plan on painting your toenails.

Product Swap: Bring your favorite beauty item ($5.00) wrapped up and ready to swap.  Do you have a great inexpensive hairspray, mousse or gel?  A yummy smelling shower gel or shave cream?  The best foot scrubber for the shower?  Or maybe your favorite disposable razor for summer travel.  Just a few ideas -- the sky's the limit.  Make-up, nail polish, lip gloss, you name it!  Wrap your gift and we'll do a gift exchange and then you can tell everyone why you love the item you brought.

What to bring:
-- A foot tub (i.e. dishpan).
-- A thick towel to put under your foot tub (i.e. pedicure station) and a hand towel to dry your feet with.
-- If you've got a favorite nail polish, foot scrub or lotion bring it to share and/or tell us about.
--A favorite beauty item(s) that costs $5.00 (wrapped)

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again!

Bloomin'

It's such a treat to have our roses and jasmine in bloom. 

I love to see them out my kitchen window and smell the sweet jasmine climbing up the trellis. 

Wanna' Be Skater Dude

Jasper had so much fun watching the "skater dudes" at the gazebo at the Bicentennial Park in Boulder City yesterday afternoon.

He was right there in the midst of them any kept trying to copy their moves -- sans skateboard.

Baby Grady

I snapped some shots of cute seven week old Grady this morning.

There's nothing quite a sweet as a new baby.  The little toes, wrinkly skin and tiny little ruby lips.

Days like today motivate me to really learn to use my camera AND take the time to learn Photoshop.


Here's my favorites and one of his big sister.

Love you and your family baby Grady!  Please stay this sweet forever.

Recipe: Homemade Salsa

Another cooking genius is my friend Maridyn.  She has developed a salsa recipe that tastes like it's fresh from the garden, even though 3/4th's of the ingredients are from your pantry.





Ingredients:
--  2 regular size cans Mexican style stewed tomatoes (they sell these at Smith's -- make sure the can says Mexican)
--  1 small can green Herdez Salsa (make sure and get the green.) This is located in the taco/salsa/Mexican section of the store.
--  1 clove garlic or 5-6 shakes of dried minced garlic
--  1/2  bunch cilantro

Directions:
--   Blend 1 can of tomatoes with the cilantro in the blender until soupy.
--   Add rest of ingredients and pulse 3-4 times until well mixed.

Will keep in the fridge for a week.  Freeze extra.  This is a great item to serve with 7 layer Mexican dip.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Homemade Refried Beans

My friend Cydnee is a cooking genius.

She's developed a wonderful recipe for refried beans using dry pinto beans -- yes, I am talking about all of those beans sitting in your food storage!

There's no lard, no fat, and you stick everything in the crock pot and that's it!  My kind of recipe.  She is working on developing a black bean recipe so stay tuned.

Homemade Refried Beans: by Cydnee Schroder 

Ingredients:

4 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
1 onion chopped
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped finely
3 T minced garlic
1 T salt
2 t ground pepper
½ t cumin
8 cups water (You can use 4 cups water and 4 cups chicken broth for more flavor)
(I add in 1 heaping Tablespoon of dry Fajita seasoning just for extra flavor)

Directions:
--  Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker and stir to combine.
--  Cook on high for 8 hours.
--  Once the beans have cooked, beat them with an immersion blender inside the crock pot (be careful not to splatter yourself with hot beans) until they look like refried beans (about 5 min.)  If they are too thick, you can add a little water in at this point to make them runnier.
--  Use what you need for dinner that night and freeze the rest in freezer bags for up to 3 months.


Tip:  The only fresh item is the jalepeno peppers -- which I do not normally keep on hand.  I keep a few extra diced and frozen so I can make this on a whim.

ENJOY!

Watching You

"Mom, I am watching you and I need you to love me and help me."  That's what I see in Jasper's eyes.

This is something I need a lot of help remembering after trying days like today! (Or days like the the great cactus run-in, etc.)

I set this as my new laptop wallpaper because I want to look at it often and remember that Jasper is only 2 and still needs my help.  Even though he tells everyone he is 5 and constantly says, "I do it," meaning --don't help me, I will do it MYSELF!

I am very grateful for all of the talks during our Church's General Conference lat weekend that remind me how important my role as a mother is.

Recipe: The BEST Beef Stroganoff

Amy Ellsworth was gracious enough to make her famous Beef Stroganoff for us a couple months ago and we are forever grateful.

This is my new favorite dish to make when we take someone dinner because it is a guaranteed hit.








The BEST Beef Stroganoff:  Recipe from:  Amy Ellsworth


Ingredients:
2 lb cubed stew meat
2 (10.75oz) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 chopped onion
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix


Directions:
Spray crock pot with non stick spray
Combine all above ingredients in slow cooker
Cook on low 8 hours or on high 5 hours


Just before serving add: 
8 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
Fresh sauteed sliced mushrooms

Serve over noodles or rice.

A few things I have figured out after making this several times:

Stew meat is $4.00 plus per pound at the grocery store, but at Costco it is only $2.70 per pound, and it is a much higher quality meat.  If you have ever had tough stew meat before, fear not, the crock pot makes the stew meat fall apart like a pot roast.  

If you've never bought the condensed golden mushroom soup before you may have to hunt for it in the soup section.  Most stores carry it and the only brand I have ever found is Campbell's.

I have a hard time getting the cream cheese and sour cream blended smoothly at the end, so I take most of the meat out and set it aside.  I use my immersion blender to get the cream cheese and sour cream thoroughly blended, then I add the meat back in.  Next I top it off with the mushrooms.

It is easier for me to get Jasper to eat the meat if I blend it with the immersion blender too.  It finely shreds the beef and blends it right into the sauce.

ENJOY!

More Thursday Park Favorites

For the record, Jasper is covering his face because he is having a melt down because he lost his little Gladware container full of Sun Chips.  

He set them down in the middle of the field and I brought them over the picnic area while he was out running around.

He lost it when he went back to retrieve "his chips" and they were gone. I had no idea he would remember them.